Icelandic Saying: “Now there won’t do any mitten-takes” = “Nú duga engin vettlingatök.” (Meaning: Now we are going to do it properly.) No mitten-grabbing! If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well! (I hear Amma!) With this level of translation required, no wonder it’s hard to learn Icelandic. And yet, when you think about it, […]
“My cake is dough.” – William Shakespeare. It’s an English proverb meaning ‘My plans have failed.’ And it’s from Shakespeare’s play ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ in Act 5, Scene 1 it goes like this: Gremio: ‘My cake is dough, but I’ll in among the rest. Out of hope of all but my share of […]
‘There is no love sincerer than the love of food.’ – George Bernard Shaw ….And fresh Vínarterta with butter cookie layers fragrant with pure vanilla and almond, filled with cardamom flavored plum jam, iced with vanilla buttercream, plated with chocolate, berries and whipped cream is sincere love for me! Every aspect of my baking is […]
“I believe in pink. I believe laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day. And I believe in miracles.” -Audrey Hepburn
Gaman Saman ‘Fun Together’ Thorrablot 2016: A Visual, Cultural and Culinary Feast! FRIDAY, APRIL 8th REVIVAL – 783 College St, Toronto. 6:30pm Appetizers and Cash Bar 7:30 Feast! Spirited tributes to Icelandic art, poetry, storytelling, singing, and musical performances in our dazzling new venue. Traditional Icelandic food creations from Chef Arden Jackson! Iceland’s Ambassador Sturla […]
What is Thorrablot? It was a sacrificial midwinter festival offered to the gods in pagan Iceland of the past. It was abolished during the Christianization of Iceland, but resurrected in the 19th century as a midwinter celebration that continues to be celebrated to this day. The timing for the festival coincides with the month of Thorri, according […]
It’s Vinarterta Time! If you grew up in an Icelandic North American community then you know that this cake is us! If the concept of a cake that is the equivalent of a cultural group is new to you, then welcome to the story and the experience! When Icelanders were driven from their homeland in […]
I love lamb! My favourite is the free roaming, antibiotic and pesticide free, small farm raised kind. I have been supporting a one woman farm feeding my kids for over 20 years. Now, she has retired. So I set out to create new relationships with farmers to secure high quality lamb for my family. I […]
Arden Jackson, Vínarterta.ca feature Traditional Icelandic Food at the Westward Viking Festival, ‘A Real Taste of Vinland’, L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada. A Real Taste of Vinland I stand in the yard of the turf house reconstruction at L’Anse aux Meadows National Park in Newfoundland, Canada and search the horizon of the North Atlantic Ocean. […]
